Adept And Survive
by Aquamonkey
Summary: When Kurtis Stryker has a bad day, he usually shrugs it off. But after today? He may not be able to ever forget it. *Rated M for mentions of blood, gore, swearing, and other stuff later on*
1. Purple Days

*Of course I added some of my own lines in this, but the dialogue is from the game. I do not own that, nor the characters. I only own my OC's. Stryker may get OOC, hopefully not too much*

Adept And Survive

Purple Days

Kurtis Stryker stood, on top of a building, along with his partner Kabal as they surveyed the scene below them on the street.

Chaos, complete and utter chaos had descended upon the city. Eerie, unknown creatures ran about, killing police officers, and some civilians as they fled the scene. Parts of the streets were on fire, and written off, crumpled cars littered the pavement.

Kabal had almost finished counting the things, when a huge monster charged through out of nowhere, and barged everything, subsequently killing it out of it's way. It grabbed a car and dragged it across the ground.

"Fifteen...sixteen...seventeen...eighteen".

"Kabal, call it in".

Kabal reached for his walkie-talkie and called for backup.

"Base, Eagle Two. We count eighteen. One-eight bogies. Southbound on Olympic".

The large creature threw the car and police man scrambled for cover before it hit them.

"This is not happening".

Kabal agreed.

"Not was I was thinking when I agreed to 'protect and serve'".

Stryker looked down and forced back a gasp.

A green, lizard type thing was crawling up the building's front.

"What is that?"

Kabal looked and frowned.

"I'm thinking shoot first, ask questions later".

Stryker disagreed and began shooting the anomaly. It easily dodged his bullets, and effortlessly glided along and up the windowsills of the building.

Kabal began shooting too, but the pair had to back up, as the creature launched itself onto the roof. It appeared behind them.

The pair began shooting again, but a strange green mist appeared and seemed to repel the bullets. The creature then flicked it's very long tongue and it knocked Kabal down. The tongue hit Stryker but he just grunted.

He felt like cursing, but he swallowed it back and walked towards this thing.

"Enough of this. It's you and me, Freakshow".

Reptile hissed several times before getting into his stance. He was fluid but not very strong, so whenever he could, the SWAT team member would get in some extra hard hits. After a few minutes, the creature fell down and did not get up again.

Stryker dusted himself off and frowned.

"Spitting? Sticking out your tongue? Bet your Mama's real proud".

Reptile twitched a few times, but then became still. Stryker turned around and saw Kabal, wincing, but otherwise fine. He helped his friend up.

"C'mon. We're going to street level. We've been compromised".

Kabal did not like the sound of that.

"It ain't safe down there".

But his partner wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Better there than here".

Kabal sighed, but followed.

* * *

The pair ran down the stairs and got to the main doors. The now saw men from the army, running away and being told to fall back. The huge creature from before was stomping after them.

Kabal spotted Mileena and he liked what he saw.

"Stryker. Check her out. Whaddya think? Friend or foe?"

His partner was not amused.

"Foe".

Kabal was shocked.

"Dressed like that?"

Stryker nodded.

"Definitely _foe_. Cover me".

* * *

Stryker and Kabal walked outside, and towards Mileena, who sauntered towards them.

The more level headed man decided to speak first.

"Hey, what're you doing out here?"

Mileena ripped off her mouth mask and purred.

"Looking for a new playmate".

She put the mask back on and Stryker smirked at Kabal's face. It was one of shock, yet something else lay hidden there.

"Still interested? She'd bite it off, you know".

His partner winced at the thought, and then shrugged.

"From the neck down, yes, above that? No".

Stryker turned back around to fight Mileena.

* * *

Unlike Reptile, Mileena's hits were stronger, and she was rather fast. After getting pummeled more than a few times, Stryker won, and Mileena lay, motionless on the floor.

* * *

"You're coming with me".

He walked toward her, and she started moving again. A winged creature flew past and drew a gasp from everyone. Mileena stood, and growled, before running at the SWAT member. He reacted, but Mileena stopped, and several lightning bolts appeared from nowhere and hit her. She howled, and slumped back down.

Stryker looked to his left, and saw a man, floating in midair. The lightning came from his hand. He landed on the ground, and looked at the bewildered Stryker.

"Who...who are you?"

Raiden went to speak, but was hit with an intense pain in his head. He held it and grunted. Stryker got a little concerned.

"You all right?"

A growl alerted them and they looked to see Johnny Cage, fighting a, well, honestly, the SWAT member had no clue anymore.

"Johnny Cage, fighting a giant monster. What is this, "Time Smashers"?!"

Raiden was above Johnny in a flash, and he electrocuted the monster, and made a hole in the bridge from it's body. It tumbled down into the rubble below.

Kabal walked over and seemed perplexed.

"That guy just shot lightning, out of his hands. How'd he do that?"

"No idea".

A vicious growl gave them a fright, and they turned to see a very tall, four armed beast, standing not far from them.

Kabal raised his gun.

"Spread out. Give 'im multiple targets"

Kabal agreed and moved away. The beast came closer, and flames eurpted from it's mouth. They hit Kabal, and fried him to a crisp. Stryker panicked, but this thing came closer,and he knew he had to fight.

"Humans. Less ugly when they burn".

Kintaro readied himself to fight, and Stryker reluctantly had to fight back. His friend lay dying meters from them, but he could not walk away to get help.

* * *

Kintaro hit hard, and despite his huge, bulking form, he moved quickly. And the two extra arms he had were not helping matters. Stryker was starting to ache, and he was getting sloppy. But luckily, after a few hard blows, and after what seemed like hours, Kintaro finally fell down, hitting the ground with a thud.

"Never knew I had it in me...".

* * *

Kabal's cries made his partner run over to him. He was scorched and badly injured.

"Kabal!"

He grabbed his walkie-talkie and called his base. He was desperate now.

"Base! Eagle Two!"

Base answered, much to his relief.

"Go Eagle Two".

"Need Medevac. Current position. Kabal is down. Third-degree burns".

As confirmation of help was uttered, a mysterious green light swirled around him, and he was lifted off the ground.

"What the?!"

Base was urging him to reply, and he really wanted too. Something was stopping him.

"Eagle Two, report! Eagle Two!"

The SWAT member was then flung, fifty feet away, and into the subway. He landed with a thump, and now, he _really_ ached.

* * *

The man who had flung him down into the subway had followed him, and floated down the escalator.

"The emperor will have your soul".

Stryker scoffed.

"Yeah? Come and get it".

Ermac was fluid, strength wasn't something he had in bucket-loads, but he made up for that, speed wise. Stryker had to concentrate much more than any other of his previous fights. With a harsh kick to the face, and a punch to the gut, Ermac went down.

"I think I'll be keeping my soul".

* * *

Stryker took some time to regain his breath and he sat down. Things were looking bad, very bad.

_Oh we are screwed. God, I can't keep on fighting. Hang on, oh not again._

He saw a woman in purple and black, who spotted him, and held her hands up. She turned her back to him, and did not run.

_Ugh, at least she is making this easy._

He walked over to her, and then she spoke.

"I am not armed, if that's what you were wondering. And I won't resist arrest, even though, I have done nothing wrong".

Stryker nodded.

"Then why put your hands up?"

The woman laughed quietly.

"Because if I did not and ran away, I would look guilty, would I not?"

He agreed there. The woman stopped talking but flinched when he got near her.

"I'd prefer if you did not search me".

"Well I had to check, you could have been lying about not having weapons".

The woman's laugh grew slightly sinister.

"I do have a weapon, my mind".

Stryker was baffled and worry crept up on him.

"Shall I introduce myself?"

"Yeah. God, I must be dreaming. A reptile, man thing climbing up the building, a massive, well I don't know what tromping around, a four armed, beast? A levitating man with lightning coming out of his hands, being thrown down here by another levitating man. Seeing Kabal burn, I can't handle this. Can't I just wake up already?"

The woman shook her head.

"This is no dream. What you have seen today is what the entire world will look like unless we stop it".

Stryker tried to get his mind off of the events of today. He inevitably found himself looking at this woman.

_Okay, so her mind is her weapon? Oh shit...wait, why am I looking, there? Look away dammit, Kurtis! Look away! Actually, she does have a nice...okay, I am turning into Kabal. Shit, where was I? Oh yeah, her name._

His gun levitating brought him out of his daze. He swatted at it and tried to grab it. The woman laughed and turned. As she waved her hand, the gun moved with it, and Stryker grew impatient.

"Okay, seriously, stop it with the party tricks".

The woman kept on laughing and took off her mouth mask. She spoke, but her mouth did not move.

"I am Kara, also known as Vixen. I am a member of the Lin Quei clan. My abilities are telekinesis, and telepathy". Kara then moved her mouth to utter her next words. "Pleased to meet you. And no, I do not work with those beasts above us".

He had to sit down, or he would fall down. He slapped himself, in an attempt to 'wake up'.

"Stop, you are not dreaming. I know this is horrible, but sadly, it is real. You must rise to the challenges that will come, as when they do come, they will be relentless. May I help you? I can also heal, well, not as well as my Mother, but I can help. I can help the swelling on your face go down, and the cuts and scraps on your arm".

Stryker nodded but held his arm away from her.

"None of that burning stuff, that really hurt. I have had a lot of pain in my life, but that stuff stung like hell".

Kara laughed and shook her head. She bent down and got a hold of his arm. A purple light bathed it, and his injuries were gone. Then, her hands hovered over his right cheek, and he felt the throbbing pain lessen, and the swelling went down considerably.

"Er, thanks. I am Stryker, Kurtis Stryker".

Kara shook his hand and read his mind.

"Ex marine, served in the Gulf War, right?"

He yanked back his hand and swore out loud. He then apologised.

"How did you know that?"

Kara tapped her temple.

"I am telepathic. Sorry, I shouldn't have read your mind".

He nodded, but frowned.

_Seriously, do NOT do that again. You don't even want to know what I am thinking about. God, what am I thinking? I need some air._

"Look, Kara, I am going to go outside".

She nodded and followed him.

* * *

Another voice made Stryker really wish that he had taken today off.

Far too many people needed his help.

And he was only one man.


	2. Nothing Left

Nothing Left

"Er, Stryker, your gun?"

He grabbed it and pointed it towards the stranger.

The man's tone was one of complete calm, he did not seem phased by the weapon being aimed at him.

"I have been searching for you, Kurtis Stryker".

Kara moved her hand on top of Stryker's and motioned for him to holster it.

Stryker did not back down though. She sighed.

"Well you found me! Who are you?"

Kara's hand became a little more forceful.

"He is no threat. I would tell you if he were".

She teleported away and appeared next to the man.

The man nodded to her, before responding.

"I am Nightwolf. Lord Raiden is gathering Earth's defenders. You are among them".

Kara shook his hand and introduced herself, before walking outside.

The SWAT man was completely clueless, and tried to piece this new information together with what had just occurred.

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

Nightwolf remained calm, and perfectly still. This slightly annoyed the still armed cop.

"Raiden leads Earth's defense against these Outworld invaders. He is our best hope for survival".

Stryker huffed and his hands subconsciously tightened on his gun.

"Yeah, well. "Earthrealm Defender" is about ten steps higher than my pay grade".

Nightwolf shook his head.

"I see you doubt yourself, even after your victories. Come".

Stryker realised that there was no point in having a stand off, well, a _one_ sided stand off. And the city had gone to hell, so he just nodded, put his gun away and followed Nightwolf.

Meanwhile, Kara was outside, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

Raiden needed competent fighters, not incertitude, and incredulous ones.

* * *

The three met up outside, and Stryker had to do a double take.

The floor around where Kabal lay was charred and smoking, but he was no longer there.

There was no way he could have moved, not in that state. So where was he?

"What?"

He looked to Nightwolf, whose face moved slightly, to a look of concern.

"Where is he? Medevac hasn't been here".

Kara walked up beside him and smelt burning flesh. She wrinkled her nose and turned away.

The shaman had no idea who the cop was talking about, nor did Kara, but they were both more than a little worried now.

"Perhaps he has gone to find help".

Stryker felt the pit of anxiousness grow in his stomach when he thought of how Kabal looked.

"Naw. He was way too banged up. Someone took him".

After that, the atmosphere became tense, uncomfortable, and a heavily pregnant silence, seemingly never ending happened.

* * *

Kara dared to break the silence.

"Stryker, I am sorry about your friend, but we need to go. We cannot dawdle any longer. The tournament will begin shortly. If you need anything, show me where you live, and I shall create a portal for you to get there".

Stryker took out his PDA, which also contained a map, and directions to destinations. He typed in his address and the directions, and a picture came up on the screen. He showed it to Kara who closed her eyes, and focused on moving through the streets, with her mind.

Her hands moved up and created a portal, and sure enough, the cop could see his house through it. He stepped through with some degree of caution, but he threw that away and ran into his house.

After grabbing some clothes, and some more weapons, he was ready to come back through the portal, and travel to an unknown destination.

* * *

Raiden had created a portal which showed huge stone walls, and a large metal door at the far end of a long, stone path. He gestured for everyone to step through, and they did so.

Stryker lagged behind, as he was dragging his feet. Kara slowed down, which he mildly appreciated.

But in truth? He'd be better off being left alone.

* * *

"Just what the hell is going on here?"

Kara looked at him and there was no way she could hide the gravitas of his question on her face. She looked petrified.

"Well, in a nutshell...A sorcerer by the name of Shang Tsung runs a tournament called Mortal Kombat. It is where Earthrealm fighters battle against fighters from other realms. They are, Chaosrealm, Edenia, Netherrealm, here which is Outworld, and of course, Earthrealm. Outworld has nine consecutive victories against Earthrealm, and if they win again, then the emperor of Edenia, Shao Kahn, will rule over Earthrealm. And we do not want that. He is a vile, corrupt being. I will explain the rest later on, if you wish".

Stryker felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. His head felt like it would explode from the amount of knowledge.

Processing that, and what had happened was _far_ too much for the cop.

He collapsed and his companions ran to his aid. They each picked him up and took an arm over their shoulder.

Kara felt his forehead and shook her head.

"No fever. I suppose this was all too much for him. We need to find the sleeping quarters, quickly".

She spotted the other kombatants following guards to a small cluster of buildings. She motioned to go over there and join them.

* * *

When they arrived at the room, Nightwolf and Kara put the still unconscious Stryker into one of the rooms. They put his belongings beside the bed, and lay him down.

Nightwolf left, and Kara healed some of the remaining bruises and scrapes.

She could feel the pain he was feeling, and he kept on seeing Kabal. He wished he could have done something, _anything_, to have stopped that from happening.

Even if he were loquacious, annoying and borderline rude, he still did not deserve to die like that.

But was he dead? His body would have been there if he was.

Someone had taken him, and that really pissed the cop off.

Whoever did that would pay.

Kara saw him whimper and she felt sorry for him. She put her hands above his head, and cleared it of the horrid images and thoughts, so he could sleep easier.

She left him, and went to get herself a room.

_Kurtis hang on, just hang on in there..._


End file.
